AFTER years of talking, delays and uncertainty the regional system is now under way. I am sure that in a few years time we will look back and wonder why it took us so long to take the plunge.

As with any new venture, there was an air of apprehension before the Neath-Swansea Ospreys faced Ulster at the Gnoll last Friday night.

The chief concern was whether supporters would turn up in their numbers - I was confident the players would gel because pre-season training and friendlies had been so professional.

The crowd of more than 4,000 made its voice heard and it was the first time I had used the home dressing room at the Gnoll for 12 years. I was a Neath player back in 1990 when leagues started and we took on Abertillery at home and it was fitting to be back at the ground for the dawn of another era.

The chant was 'Ospreys, Ospreys, Ospreys' rather than 'Neath, Neath, Neath' but otherwise the Gnoll was as I will always like to remember it, a ground you are delighted to call home because it is a place opponents fear to tread.

I cannot see many sides getting the better of us there this season, and though Ulster held the lead for a while their tries came largely from our mistakes and I was always confident we would pull through.

The reaction to the match has been better than I dared hope. The public response I received over the weekend was overwhelming and certainly bodes well for the future. There is always the danger when two clubs join forces that a crucial hard core of their support will feel alienated, but in the case of the Ospreys that does not appear to be the case.

It is up to Swansea to ensure that St Helen's has a similar atmosphere for our next home match at the ground. As a club last season, the Whites gave our supporters precious little to shout about but the Ospreys are different; no more will poor performances be rewarded by continual selection.

The new system is all about shaping up or being shipped out and no more will complacency be rewarded by cash.

Any side is only really as strong as their reserves. England are at the top of the tree at the moment because they can afford to leave the likes of Austin Healey, Simon Shaw, James Simpson-Daniel and Graham Rowntree out of a 30-strong squad, never mind the first team, players other countries would be delighted to call on.

One of the weaknesses of the old Welsh league was that with talent spread around nine clubs, there was not a lot in reserve. It meant that if you went into Celtic lLeague or Heineken Cup matches with a few injuries or suspensions, you were generally exposed. The fact that not all the matches in the league were competitive was cited as the major reason for getting rid of the system, but as important to me was the lack of pressure on players.

Regional rugby means proper competition for places. Would Swansea or Neath on their own have come from behind to defeat Ulster last season? I cannot answer for Neath, but Swansea's record suggests no and if Wales are to climb up the international rankings and become a side once more that no one can take victory against for granted, we need a domestic system which not only sees players exposed to top-class rugby every week but one in which they are pushed all the way from within their own squad.

What the new system also has to ensure is that young players come through the semi-professional system and it was good to see crowds turning out to watch Welsh Premiership matches on Saturday, even though most of the names on display would have been unfamiliar to them. They were watching the future.

The Ospreys have worked a lot on skills this summer, far more so than Swansea would have in pre-season, and while that may not have appeared to be the case in the early stages on Friday when we made some basic errors, it will be obvious to all within a month when we have settled down as a side.

The players know we made a little bit of history on Friday night. The only concern to me was our skin-tight jerseys which were like weightlifters' vests.

You feared pulling a muscle trying to coax it on, a gear change in more ways than one.